Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease Is on the Rise & Your Child Might Be at Risk

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease Is on the Rise & Your Child Might Be at Risk

If there were a contagious disease going around your kid's school,
you'd want to know about it, right? In fact, you might even assume that
it's the school's responsibility to tell you. But as a recent incident
in Florida proved, that might not be the case: Two elementary school
students in Florida caught hand, foot, and mouth disease after school officials failed to warn parents
that the virus was going around -- and now parents everywhere are
wondering if the same thing could happen to them, especially because
cases of this common childhood illness are on the rise.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is generally not serious and
typically affects children ages 5 and under, but adults are also at
risk, says Ian Branam, health communication specialist at the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, who spoke with CafeMom.

"It usually starts with a fever, reduced appetite, sore
throat, and a feeling of being unwell," Branam told us. "One or two days
after the fever starts, painful sores can develop in the mouth."

These sores start out as small red spots that blister and
can turn into ulcers; a rash (which also starts out as small red spots
that can turn into blisters) sometimes appears over one or two days on
the palms of the hands and soles of the feet (the knees, elbows,
buttocks, and genital area might break out, too).

Some people exhibit no symptoms at all -- but can still spread the
disease to others, Branam said. And HFMD is spread very easily, through
an infected person's saliva, nose secretions, blister fluid, and feces
(gross!).

There's currently no vaccine for the illness, so hygiene is key,
Branam said. The best ways to avoid being infected are by washing hands
often with soap and water, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched
surfaces and items like toys, and avoiding close contact and sharing
utensils with infected individuals.

Given how crucial prevention and awareness are in stopping the spread
of HFMD, you'd think that schools would give parents a heads-up if any
students came down with the illness, but parents at Lakeview Elementary
School in Sarasota say they didn't receive any warning -- even though
the school's health room sent an email to Lakeview staff.

Why? According to Sarasota County Schools' communication specialist
Scott Ferguson, the school technically isn't required to alert parents
about this kind of thing.

"We usually don't inform parents about common illnesses
that run their course in a few days, as this disease generally does," he
told WTSP, explaining that they work with the Florida Department of
Health in Sarasota County to determine if a given outbreak warrants
communication with parents. He adds:

When we do contact parents about symptoms appearing in
relatively large numbers at their child's school, we may ask them to
take certain precautions, including keeping their children at home if
they are exhibiting certain symptoms.

Okay, but wouldn't a good way to prevent symptoms from showing up in large numbers be to contain those initial
few cases? Unfortunately, this line of thinking isn't unique to this
particular school district. Many states don't require schools to let
parents know about contagious diseases at schools (though they do ask
them to notify local and/or state public health agencies).

But even if schools don't technically have to tell parents about a potentially nasty germ making the rounds through classrooms, wouldn't they want to? Wouldn't they want to try to stop outbreaks from spreading?

Some schools do make this choice, thankfully. At least
once a year I get an email from at least one of my children's schools
about HFMD (I've even gotten a couple about strep throat and the flu,
not to mention dozens about lice).

One would think it would be in a school's best interest to
keep parents in the loop when it comes to their children's health. When
kids are sick, attendance goes down and academic progress is
interrupted (plus, teachers get sick, too). I understand not wanting to
incite widespread panic, but dealing with a bunch of parents who are
angry their kids got sick can't be much better.

Naturally, we should all be encouraging our kids to wash
their hands frequently anyway, but if we got an alert about HFMD in
school we'd probably go out of our way to remind them -- and we'd also
be more likely to recognize symptoms earlier, which means we'd be more
likely to take them to the doctor at the first sign of illness (instead
of writing off initial symptoms as a minor cold and sending them to
class).

Plus, it just seems like common courtesy for schools to
make sure parents are informed. And that courtesy can go both ways: Both
of my kids' current schools, for example, ask that parents give a list
of symptoms to the nurse's office when their kids are out sick. The goal
is to keep as many kids as healthy as possible -- and that's in
everybody's best interest.

My DD had it earlier this year and had to kiss 4 days of school. I let the school know, but luckily she was the only one who caught it as far as I know. There was no need to to cause panic over a virus that goes away on its own in a few days.

For most adults there is little to no risk. I used to work in a daycare and caught HFMD from another child. I had the blistering and fever for 2 days, missed work until the doctor cleared never and was fine. The only adults who have to worry are pregnant woman because exposure may cause 1st trimester miscarriage.

Well I try not to bubble wrap my son too much but I worry so much when there is any virus with a high fever because he gets febrile seizures and I almost lost him when he was a baby. He stopped breathing and I had to give him mouth to mouth.

I run a daycare and a little while back we had a family bring it in our home. Thought they spent enough time away and we could avoid it since they were gone the week they got it. My son was on a separate level when they returned and he still got it! EVERYONE did! Every single kid and baby. The levels of severity were all over the place with each and every kid. I had a couple wity just a fever and a few bumps to all over and then getting impetigo. My son and the baby got it the worse! My son ( who is 3) ended up in the hospital. Yep...BAD seizure. He had really bad painful sores and peeling skin. At least he didn't lose his fingernails and toenails! It did really mess wity his eczema...which is also frustrating because he had just gotten it under control.A few of the kids...including mine...threw up with it as well. It was hell week for weeks at our home!

I can see it being more of a concern with smaller children in daycare settings and especially with babies! I don't understand getting so worried about school age.

It does really suck! It can be VERY painful and cause the children to become very ill. And the worse thing about it is it stays in the system for months. It's in the saliva, BM and urine. So it can be impossible with little ones who constantly mouth things or suck on their fingers.

Quoting wakymom:

We get a notice when there's lice in our child's grade, but nothing else contagious. Enough parents communicate with each other that most of us are aware of the various bugs going around the school.

I, too, am wondering why this is suddenly a big deal. Every illness has a risk of serious complications. Why single this out? Just another example of how parents are trying to bubble wrap their kids.

Hfmd has a 3 day incubation period before symptoms start. In my kids, the first symptom was a high fever (roughly 103) and severe headache (described by my kiddos as brainfreeze) for 12-18 hours, then no symptoms for 2 days then the blisters showing up.

By the time the blisters appeared, my kids had been walking Petri dishes for 5 days... The first one to get sick was my 5yo, who had his headache on a Tuesday, if that tells you how many people he could infected in that time frame. He passed it to my 7 yo, then my 8 yo for it. We were quarantined over Thanksgiving break once we figured out what was going on.

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.